25 July 2010

NORTH STAFFS SUMMER RAPID PLAY LEAGUE 2010

The only major Summer event organised by the North Staffordshire Chess Association is the Rapidplay team event which took place at Newcastle Bridge Club last Tuesday.

Cheddleton entered five teams, two in the First Division and three – each containing two juniors – in the Second Division.

This is the only North Staffs competition that Cheddleton had never won and the A team obviously decided it was time to make amends as they sailed to victory with seven points from a possible eight.

With eight teams in the First Division, at the end of play, Cheddleton A were one and half points in front of second-placed Stafford on five and a half points and a further point ahead of third-placed Alsager on four and a half.  Fourth place was shared by Cheddleton B and Holmes Chapel with four points each.  Newcastle, Macclesfield and Fenton/Kidsgrove also took part.  The winning Cheddleton A team consisted of Rob Shaw, Dave Buxton, Craig Whitfield and Simon Edwards.  The B team was Bill Armstrong, John Yee, Matthew Wyza and Vlade Luzajic.

There were six teams in the Second Division, exclusively for players graded under 130.  The winning team was a Stafford and Rugeley team which scored six points from eight, whilst Newcastle finished a point and a half behind on four and a half.  Of the three Cheddleton teams, Cheddleton C which consisted of Karol Grzybowski, Ebrahim Arshad, 11-year old Jack Healings and 8-year old Jacob Boswell scored three and a half points as did Cheddleton D which had Ron Harrison, Roger Walker, 12-year old Liam Dimmick and 11-year old Jacob Cartlidge.  The E team scored three points and was Alastair McFadden, Colin Abell and two eleven year olds, Candice Griffiths and Emma Smith.

The event proved as popular as ever and a great success and all the Cheddleton teams performed magnificently with three of the juniors, Jacob Boswell, Candice Griffiths and Emma Smith all making their debuts at this level.

13 June 2010

SEVENTH LEEK RAPID PLAY CONGRESS 2010

The Seventh Leek Rapidplay Congress took place at St. Edward’s Junior High School last weekend.  Although the number of entries was lower than hoped, it was up on last year and was very strong, leading to a good competition in both sections.  The top section had three International players taking part, Ryszard Maciol and Tomasz Sygnowski both of Poland and Vikas Sharma of India, one or other of whom was expected to take the first prize.

The tournament was only the third and was the first provincial tournament to be played on the timing system devised by late World Champion Bobby Fischer.  In the past, this Congress has made a name for itself as being the only one in the United Kingdom to be played at the rate of fifteen minutes per player and this year continued the trend by using the Fischer System whereby each player has twenty minutes at the start of the game but gains ten seconds after each move.  It is generally thought that a variation of this system will eventually be used in all tournaments throughout the world but it is very much in the experimental stage at the moment. 

The tournament was divided into two sections, the Open section was called the Cheddleton Section and the lower one the St. Edward’s Section.

In the top section there were eight players from the local club and all acquitted themselves well.  15-year old Craig Whitfield did particularly well to finish in equal second place with Maciol and Oliver Jackson of Poynton whilst Dave Buxton got off to a bad start but redeemed himself to finish equal fifth and win the slow starter’s prize.  Bill Armstrong finished with a creditable score of 3 and the five other players all did very well.  The winner after a remarkably consistent display against this tough field of players was Alex Richardson of Newcastle who scored five and a half points and also took home the Alan Wilshaw Memorial Rosebowl for the highest placed local player.

Cheddleton Section

The other tournament for players graded under 145 was equally hard fought with another field of strong players.  This time there were eleven comtestants from the local club and two of them were very much in contention right up to the end.  Neil Dimmick was particularly impressive in beating England Junior International Leo Tsoi in Round 4 but then managed to lose his last two games as his chance of further glory receded.  Vlade Luzajic played excellently throughout and had the unenviable task of playing Neil in the last round.  By winning this, he assured himself of equal second place with Mike Lally of Sheffield to Phil Zabrocki of Shrewsbury who was the only player in the whole Congress to score the full six points.  The slow starter’s prize was shared by two juniors, Angelica Dean of Oldham 3Cs and Ashwin Kalyana of Solihull Checkmates.  13 year old Liam Dimmick was the highest of the local juniors, finishing on 3 points and equal amongst others with David Hallen.  Britain’s leading chess arbiter, David Welch of Liverpool, was an unexpected but very welcome competitor in this tournament and must have been pleased with the way in which the new system worked.

The new system which was ventured into with some trepidation by both organisers and players seemed to work extremely well and anyone who commented upon it did so favourably.

St. Edward’s Section

30 May 2010

NORTH STAFFS AND DISTRICT LEAGUE

The last four matches have now been played in the North Staffs League with a reasonable amount of success for local teams. 

Cheddleton B travelled to Stafford on Wednesday and stumbled to a drawn result which meant that they were joint Champions of the Second Division.  This is a remarkable achievement in view of the fact that the team had to play seven matches in a very short space of time at the end of the season as a result of cancellations because of the weather earlier in the year.  John Yee had a fine win on board three, followed by draws by Bill Armstrong, Phil Birks and Alastair McFadden.

Scores:-

Stafford B 2½ 2½ Cheddleton B

Malcolm J Armstrong ½ ½ William G Armstrong, Roger VH Butters ½ ½ Philip N Birks, Kenneth J McNulty 0 1 John Y Yee, Peter FK Evans 1 0 Roberto Moruzzi, Guy FAH de Visme ½ ½ Alastair D McFadden

The E team travelled to Fenton on Monday and continued their recent revival with a resounding win over the previously undefeated Fourth Division Champions.  Colin Abell, David Rose and Megan Moruzzi were all winners.

Scores:-

Fenton C 1  3 Cheddleton E

Robert Taylor 1 0 Paul Shelley, Karl Walklate 0 1 Colin Abell, Richard P Cantliff 0 1 David M Rose, Stephen J Emmerton 0 1 Megan E Moruzzi

On Wednesday evening, the D team travelled to Kidsgrove, being already assured of runners up position in the Division.  Kidsgrove fielded a very strong side and held on gamely for a draw.  In the event, all the games were won by players with the white pieces.  Matt Wyza and Keith Brownlee were winners for the visitors.

Scores:-

Kidsgrove A 2 2 Cheddleton D

Derek H Northage 0 1 Matthew P Wyza, Christopher K Ford 1 0 Allan R Beaumont, Julian P Cook 0 1 Keith Brownlee, David Johnson 1 0 Peter P Tomczak

Friday saw the final match in Division Five with the H team securing second place in the division by drawing with Champions Fenton D.  Roger Edwards and Alex Cartlidge both won, and so reversed the position in the D team match by ensuring that the four players with the black pieces all won.

Scores:-

Cheddleton H 2 2 Fenton D

Roger J Edwards 1 0 Mark S Whitby, David A Hallen 0 1 Stephen J Emmerton, Alexander J Cartlidge 1 0 Peter R Tideswell, Jacob D Cartlidge 0 1 Philip Grocott

THE UK CHESS CHALLENGE STAFFORDSHIRE COUNTY MEGA FINAL

The UK Chess Challenge is a competition for all junior players in the United Kingdom.  This year there were over 74,000 entries.  The first stage of the competition is played within schools.  The schools then submit their winners and other qualifiers to a County championship called a Mega Final.  The winners and qualifiers from this go through to an area championship called a Giga Final and then, later in the year, all the winners and qualifiers from the Giga Finals come together for the Tera Final.  In the Mega Final there is a girl and boy champion for each age group from Under-18 to Under-7.  All of these champions together with anyone who scores more than four points out of the six games which everyone plays qualifies for the next phase.

This year saw the largest ever entry for the Staffordshire Mega Final and  Staffordshire was one of the few counties to show an increase in its numbers this year.  All the others to show an increase were in the South East of England.  There were many local entries including thirty one from St. Edward’s Junior High School.

Craig Whitfield of Newcastle School – a member of Cheddleton Chess Club - was last year’s runner up in the Tera Final and set off on his way again this year by winning the Under 15 boys’ Championship.  Joe Jackson, of Westwood College was the Under 17 boys’ Champion

The Under 13 competition was particularly closely fought with three members of the club in the top four.  Liam Dimmick of St. Edward’s Junior High was second and Alex Cartlidge of St. Joseph’s College and Danny Graham of St. Edward’s  were equal third, all qualifying for the Giga Final.  The winner was also local being John He of Woodhouse Middle School at Biddulph.  The Under 13 girls’ title was shared between Laura Smith of St. Edward’s and Roma Sondhi of Wolverhampton Girls High School.

The Under 12 title was won by England International Leo Tsoi of Sutton Coldfield who was allowed into the tournament as a guest.  The Staffordshire title went to Siddharth Singh of Brewood who won on tie-break from Rory Knipe and Candice Griffiths both of St. Edward’s.  Candice became the Staffordshire Under 12 Girls’ Champion.  George Hamilton and David Kay both of St. Edward’s were also qualifiers for the Giga Finals.

Two more members of Cheddleton Chess Club qualified from the extremely close Under 11 competition.  The lead kept changing hands and the winner was not certain until the very last game had been played.  The Staffordshire Champion was Jacob Cartlidge and Jack Healings also qualified.  Both are from St. Wulstan’s Primary School.

In the Under 10, Andrei Mihai and Kieran Smith, both of St. Edward’s qualified as equal third, whilst Skye Wiggins of St. Wulstan’s, also a member of the club, was the Under 9 Girls’ Champion.

16 May 2010

NORTH STAFFS AND DISTRICT LEAGUE

After the major events of last week, this was a quiet week on the chess front with just a few more matches completed that had been postponed earlier in the season.

On Wednesday, there was the last First Division match with nothing hanging on the result.  It was again a close match with little to choose between the teams.  In the end, an odd unforced error and a lot of time pressure were instrumental in providing the result. 

Simon Edwards had a convincing win on board two and John Yee fought out a draw from a very even game on board three.  Time pressure affected the other three games with only Dave Buxton salvaging anything from the scrambles.

Scores:-

Newcastle A 3 2 Cheddleton A

Alex Richardson ½ ½ David E Buxton, Alan M Paling 0 1 Simon R Edwards, Barry Jones ½ ½ John Y Yee, Martyn J Harris 1 0 Philip N Birks, Timothy D Stevens 1 0 William G Armstrong

The E team entertained Kidsgrove B in the Fourth Division on Friday evening and looked a completely different team from the one which has struggled so much all season as they eased past their opponents.  Tough, close games on the top two boards involving Paul Shelley and Dave Rose eventually both went to the home team to add to the earlier victories by Frank Bruce and David Hallen.

Scores:-

Cheddleton E 4 0 Kidsgrove B

Paul Shelley 1 0 Julian P Cook, David M Rose 1 0 Simon RM Elliott, David A Hallen 1 0 David S Johnson, Frank D Bruce 1 0 Paul Staples 

The F team also had a good win in the Fifth Division, which moved them up into second place.

Will Foster had an early and convincing win on the bottom board, but the other three games went on for a long time.

Joe Jackson was the next to finish with a very creditable draw against Derrick Jones.   12-year-old Liam Dimmick’s game was very double-edged, but after a couple of hours of serious play, he began to gain the upper hand and went on to win.  With the match safely won, his father, Neil, breathed a sigh of relief and agreed a draw.

Scores:-

Cheddleton F 3 1 Newcastle E

Neil D Dimmick ½ ½ Paul Clapham, Liam J Dimmick 1 0 Steven P Cooper, Joseph H Jackson ½ ½ Derrick W Jones, William CE Foster 1 0 May E Jones

There are three matches this week in the North Staffs League.  The E team completes its season on Monday with a visit to Fenton C in the fourth division and the H team has its last match on Friday entertaining Fenton D.  The B team are also in action on Friday evening when Alsager A are the visitors in a second division fixture.

9 May 2010

NORTH STAFFS AND DISTRICT LEAGUE

Another week of not very auspicious results in the North Staffs League saw two draws and a loss on Friday evening and no away matches during the week.

Cheddleton B, in third place in Division Two, entertained Newcastle B who are in second place.  Fairly predictably the match resulted in a draw with three drawn games and a win for each side.  All the games were life and death struggles and Simon Edwards, Colin Abell and David Hallen gained admirable draws in very tough games.  Phil Birks then fought out a heroic victory on board two to clinch the drawn match.

Scores:-

Cheddleton B 2½ 2½ Newcastle B 

Simon R Edwards ½ ½ Alex Richardson, Philip N Birks 1 0 Martyn J Harris, William G Armstrong 0 1 Francis E Westfield, Colin Abell ½ ½ Nicholas PA Wright , David A Hallen ½ ½ Paul Clapham

The E team’s recent good run came to an end in Division Four as Champions elect Fenton C took the bottom two boards after the top two had been drawn.  Alastair McFadden had the best of his game but was unable to produce enough to win it and Paul Shelley had another good draw on board two.

Scores:-

Cheddleton E 1 3 Fenton C 

Alastair D McFadden ½ ½ Robert Taylor, Paul Shelley ½ ½ Karl Walklate,  David M Rose 0 1 Ernest Wilkinson, Megan E Moruzzi 0 1 Stuart E Hull

In the Fifth Division, the H team fought to the last gasp against a very strong Meir C side to gain a very creditable draw.  Alex Cartlidge won handsomely on board two whilst Matthew Wyza and Jack Healings both drew.  Jack fought like a tiger to hold a position that frequently looked lost and showed great maturity in the way that he gained the half point.

Scores:-

Cheddleton H 2 2 Meir C

Matthew P Wyza ½ ½ Steven R Hill, Alex J Cartlidge 1 0 Anthony D Cooling, Jacob D Cartlidge 0 1 Robert Perry, Jack Healings ½ ½ Stuart Green

NATIONAL CHESS LEAGUE

The Four Nations Chess League - the British National Chess League – played the final matches of the season at Sunningdale in Berkshire on Saturday, Sunday and Monday of last week.

Although Cheddleton were far from at their best, they succeeded in gaining promotion for the first time ever to the National Premiership. 

They started on Saturday in first place in the Second Division against West of England based AMCA Dragons.  The match continued for many hours and, contrary to expectation, it finished with Cheddleton fighting for the draw.  Two comparatively early victories by Keith Arkell and Jon Hawkins had been followed by two losses and with Danny Gormally and Paul Wallace drawing completely tied up positions, it was left to Sheila Jackson and Robert Bellin to struggle to find a win in one of their games.  In the end, both reluctantly agreed draws to confirm a drawn match.  The teams at the top of the Division were so close that this draw took Cheddleton down to third place.

Scores:-

Cheddleton 4 4 AMCA Dragons

Keith C Arkell 1 0 Nicolas Croad, Daniel W Gormally ½ ½ Richard M Webb, Robert Bellin ½ ½ Clive A Frostick, Jonathan W Hawkins 1 0 Kenneth G Coates, Paul A. Wallace ½ ½ Caius AW Turner, Jason P McKenna 0 1 David PO Hart, Sheila Jackson ½ ½ Colin Purdon, Patrick J. Bennett 0 1 James P Holland

On Sunday, the opponents were top London club Barbican who were one of the favourites to win the Division.  Here the Cheddleton players excelled themselves.  Jon Hawkins defeated 13-year old Venezuelan genius Felix Ynojosa who is arguably the best player of his age in the world and Robert Bellin, Paul Wallace and Jason McKenna all had perticularly good victories.  The three grandmasters, Keith Arkell, Danny Gormally and Sheila Jackson all agreed draws to win the match comfortably and move back to the top of the table.

Scores:-

Barbican Youth 2½ 5½ Cheddleton

Graham Morrison ½ ½ Daniel W Gormally, Neil Berry ½ ½  Keith C Arkell, Felix J Ynojosa 0 1 Jonathan W Hawkins, Terry PD Chapman 0 1 Robert Bellin, David J Coleman 0 1 Paul A. Wallace, George E O’Toole 0 1 Jason P McKenna, John H Hodgson ½ ½ Sheila Jackson, Angelica M Ynojosa 1 0 Patrick J. Bennett      

This left the last match of the season on Monday against Slough-based Sambuca Sharks who had strengthened their team for the weekend with four high rated foreign International players.  This clearly made them favourites to win the match but they in the event, the match swung first one way and then the other.  Star of the weekend was Jon Hawkins who won his third successive match, but most of the five draws were fiercely contested,  The last two to finish were Robert Bellin who was unable to push home an advantage against Hungarian women’s grandmaster Anna Rudolf and was held to a draw and Jason McKenna who had to fight for hours to prove that his opponent had not got sufficient material on the board to force a win.  This game is a perfect model of the technique required in such a position.  As a result of narrowly losing the match, Cheddleton finished as runners up to their opponents and gained promotion.

Scores:-

Cheddleton 3½ 4½ Sambuca Sharks

Daniel W Gormally ½ ½ Robert Ris, Keith C Arkell ½ ½ Thomas E Rendle, Jonathan W Hawkins 1 0 Steven Tweedie, Robert Bellin ½ ½ Anna Rudolf, Paul A. Wallace ½ ½ Jan Krensing, Jason P McKenna ½ ½ Samuel G Williams, Sheila Jackson 0 1 Peter T Roberson, Patrick J. Bennett 0 1 Mark R Ruston 

4NCL  Final League Table

*Indicates ½ game point deducted for notified default of a board

1 May 2010

NORTH STAFFS AND DISTRICT LEAGUE

There were two four matches played this week.

On Wednesday, the B team returned to form and helped their last lingering chances of gaining the Second Division Championship with a stunning whitewash of Holmes Chapel C on Wednesday evening.  Whilst the visitors looked to be the favourites on paper, such a wide margin of victory was unexpected.  John Yee was an early winner and was soon followed by Alex Cartlidge.  The other three games went on for a much longer time as the three Cheddleton players gradually wore down their opponents. 

Scores:-

Holmes Chapel C 0 5 Cheddleton B

Ian B Chester 0 1 Simon R Edwards

Anthony G Roberts 0 1 Philip N Birks

George J Scattergood 0 1 John Y Yee

Richard H Blackwell 0 1 Alastair D McFadden

David P Price 0 1 Alexander J Cartlidge

Meanwhile, at Stafford, a sadly depleted but very determined Cheddleton side was playing Wolverhampton in the Final tie of the Staffordshire Under-140 Cup.  Chris Baxter had a very tied up position and settled for a draw at a fairly early stage of the proceedings and was soon followed by David Hallen who had a very convincing win against a much higher rated opponent on the bottom board.  With the confidence gained from this lead, the other three dug in with a will and the title eventually came back to North Staffordshire by courtesy of wins from Roger Edwards and Keith Brownlee. 

Scores:-

Wolverhampton 1½ 3½ Cheddleton 

David R Wightman 1 0 Matthew P Wyza               

Jason Pearson-Jones 0 1 Roger J Edwards                    

Gordon G Sands ½ ½ Christopher Baxter                                  

Richard  Dawson 0 1 Keith Brownlee                   

Barry Lewis 0 1 David A Hallen                  

On Thursday, the C team clinched the Third Division title by gaining a draw at Alsager B.  Three of the team had been in action the night before and two of them looked distinctly below par.  David Hallen, being totally indefatigable, played a captain’s innings to win again on the bottom board and was joined by Roger Walker who made sure that the points were shared and the Championship trophy was won.

Scores:-

Alsager B 2 2 Cheddleton C

T Brian Birchall 1 0 John Y Yee

John HM Smith 1 0 Roger J Edwards

Oliver J Horrocks 0 1 Roger W Walker

Timothy Sullivan 0 1 David A Hallen

The G team finally completed their Fifth Division campaign on Friday evening with a draw at home to Hassell.  Danny Graham played a long and complicated game to draw with Joshua Hollins whilst Colin Abell was in a very even game on the top board to gain another half point.  In the end, it was all up to Frank Bruce to win and draw the match which he dutifully proceeded to do.

Scores:-

Cheddleton G 2 2 Hassell

Colin Abell ½ ½ Conrad Green

Frank D Bruce 1 0 Richard Crick

Danny Graham ½ ½ Joshua Hollins

George E Hamilton 0 1 Matthew Kelly

25 April 2010

NORTH STAFFS AND DISTRICT LEAGUE

There were two very different Cup Finals played this week in the North Staffs League.

On Monday, the Under-150 grade team travelled to Meir and won comprehensively against a team that fought gamely but which was outgraded quite considerably on each board.  Although most of the games were quite close and some were in doubt for long periods, in the end, the visitors came back home with a clean sweep.

Scores:-

Meir 0 5 Cheddleton

Clive N Ferry 0 1 John Y Yee

David A Fuller 0 1 Philip N Birks

Thomas W Healey 0 1 Carl Gartside

Edward D Burke 0 1 Christopher Sizeland

Stuart Green 0 1 Allan R Beaumont

It was a different story on Friday, however, with the eight-board team entertaining Holmes Chapel.  The two teams were pretty evenly matched and again most of the games were tightly fought.  The hosts eventually began to dominate the lower boards and took an early lead when John Yee took the game on the bottom board.  It was some time before any of the other games finished but, for much of the evening, it looked as though the home team would narrowly win.  After a few draws were agreed, Bill Armstrong added to the score but then, things started to turn around on some of the higher boards.  In the end, the whole match result hung on Martin Olsson’s game, which looked as though it could go any way.  Sadly, with the final twist, it went to the visitors along with the Cup!

Scores:-

Cheddleton 3½ 4½ Holmes Chapel

Robert Shaw ½ ½ Jonathan LB Blackburn

David E Buxton ½ ½ John M Turner

Martin R Olsson 0 1 Patrick J Bennett

Simon N Gilmore 0 1 Michael L Hancock

Simon R Edwards 0 1 Ian W Bates

William G Armstrong 1 Jon EW Blackburn

Philip N Birks ½ ½ Malcolm A Roberts

John Y Yee 1 0 Ian B Chester

18 April 2010

NORTH STAFFS AND DISTRICT LEAGUE

The best result of a poor week for the Cheddleton teams was a crushing win at a much higher rated Newcastle E team on Wednesday evening.  The gift of a default board put the team one up before they started, but a fighting performance from young Jack Healings brought him victory over the experienced Steve Cooper.  With one point assured, Alex and Phil dug in and played almost to the wire.  12 year old Alex finally got the better of his opponent at 10.30 and was soon followed by Phil Birks who had ground out an impressive win on the top board.

Scores:-

Newcastle E 0 4 Cheddleton H

Nicholas PA Wright 0 1 Philip N Birks, Paul Clapham 0 1 Alexander J Cartlidge, Steven P Cooper 0 1 Jack Healings, default 0 1 Jacob D Cartlidge

Having flailed around unimpressively for the last few weeks, Cheddleton B seem finally to have conceded all hope of the Second Division Championship on Friday evening when they were completely outplayed by a determined Macclesfield side.  In the end, only a draw by Matthew Wyza saved the team’s blushes.

Scores:-

Cheddleton B ½ 4½ Macclesfield

David E Buxton 0 1 Anthony R Soames, Matthew P Wyza ½ ½ Philip J Cattermole, Philip N Birks 0 1 Vijay Kumar, Alastair D McFadden 0 1 Marc Jouannet, Colin Abell 0 1 Roy F Gray

Cheddleton’s under-110 team played host to a very strong Fenton side in the Semi-Final of the Perry Trophy on Friday evening and after giving a good account of themselves were forced to acknowledge defeat with two good draws by Alex Cartlidge and David Hallen all they had to show for their efforts.

Scores:-

Cheddleton 1 3 Fenton

David A Hallen ½ ½  Stephen J Emmerton, Frank D Bruce 0 1 Carl K Mustafa, Liam J Dimmick 0 1 Peter R Tideswell, Alex J Cartlidge ½ ½ Derek Whitehurst

11 April 2010

NORTH STAFFS AND DISTRICT LEAGUE

Cheddleton B continued to stutter in the Second Division on Friday evening with an unconvincing display against visiting Newcastle C on Friday evening.

The visitors arrived with a player short, giving the home team the lead before hostilities opened, but only Roger Edwards with a good early win and Phil Birks with a very hard-fought draw added to the total meaning that the team dropped yet another point in the run-in for the Championship.

Scores:-

Cheddleton B 2½ 2½ Newcastle C

Simon R Edwards 0 1 Alan M Paling, Vlade V Luzajic 0 1 Geoffrey S Lee, Philip N Birks ½ ½ Watson Fuller, Roger J Edwards 1 0 Samuel D Onions, David A Hallen 1 default

At the same time, the G team whose members have been looking to be in better form at the tail-end of the season, also drew their match with Newcastle opponents when they entertained Newcastle E in the Fifth Division.  After an early setback, George Hamilton evened the score with a neat win on the bottom board.  Soon afterwards, Colin Abell put the home side ahead but a long rearguard action by Frank Bruce at his fighting best could not grind out the extra half point needed for victory.

Scores:-

Cheddleton G 2 2 Newcastle E

Colin Abell 1 0 Peter Shaw, Frank D Bruce 0 1 Paul Clapham, Danny Graham 0 1 Steven P Cooper, George E Hamilton 1 0 Brian Swinnerton

Also in the Fifth Division, the H team comfortably dispatched the Hassall team.  Jacob Cartlidge and Jack Healings soon had the hosts two boards to the good, but Alex Cartlidge had a hard fight on his hands as he had risen from his sick bed to play.  In the end, a magnificent fight back and a mature keeping of his nerve gave Alex another triumph.  With the match clearly won, Matt Wyza cheerfully offered his opponent a draw to close the evening’s entertainment.

Scores:-

Cheddleton H 3½ ½ Hassell

Matthew P Wyza ½ ½ Joshua Hollins, Alexander J Cartlidge 1 0 Matthew Kelly, Jacob D Cartlidge 1 0 John Hollins, Jack Healings 1 0 Oliver Hollins

4 April 2010

NORTH STAFFS AND DISTRICT LEAGUE

Cheddleton B stumbled a little in their quest for the Second Division Championship when they travelled to Alsager with only Bill Armstrong winning against a particularly strong Alsager A side.  Phil Birks took a hard-earned draw from his opponent but the rest of the team went home empty-handed.  Not to be side-tracked, the team came back to form four days later when they travelled to Fenton.  This time, they mopped up four victories with Davids Buxton and Hallen winning fairly comfortably and Matthew Wyza and Peter Hallen also both powering their way to success.  Phil Birks again found himself up against a stubborn opponent and cheerfully settled for a draw.  These results keep the B team in third place in the Division, two points behind the joint leaders, Macclesfield and Meir A and three and four games in hand respectively.

Scores:-

Alsager A 3½ 1½ Cheddleton B

John R Booth 1 0 Simon R Edwards, Benjamin Zitha ½ ½ Philip N Birks, Julian FT Kirk O’Grady 0 1 William G Armstrong, Douglas J Barnett 1 0 Peter I Hallen, T Brian Birchall 1 0 Karol Grzybowski

Fenton A ½ 4½ Cheddleton B

Andrew D Stott 0 1 David E Buxton, John A Amison ½ ½ Philip N Birks, Robert Taylor 0 1 Matthew P Wyza, Ernest Wilkinson 0 1 Peter I Hallen, John C White 0 1 David A Hallen

On Friday evening, the E team, having tasted victory for the first time since October the previous week and clearly liked the taste, clinically disposed of second in the Fourth Division table, Newcastle D.  They were helped by their opponents coming a player short, but David Rose fought magnificently to drag an uncomfortable position round and win against his opposing captain, putting the match out of danger with Karol already assured of a safe draw.

Scores:-

Cheddleton E 2½ 1½ Newcastle D

Alastair D McFadden 0 1 Francis E Westfield, David M Rose 1 0 Paul Clapham, Karol Grzybowski ½ ½ Steven P Cooper, Megan E Moruzzi 1 default

Also on Friday, the F team’s last flickering hope of winning the Fifth Division evaporated when a strong Meir C team turned up to defeat them.  Liam Dimmick continued his good run and Joe Jackson miraculously gained a draw from what looked to be certain defeat but that was the full extent of the team’s success.

Scores:-

Cheddleton F 1½ 2½ Meir C

Neil D Dimmick 0 1 Clive N Ferry, Liam J Dimmick 1 0 Anthony D Cooling, Joseph H Jackson ½ ½ Michael J Judd, William CE Foster 0 1 Robert Perry

NATIONAL CHESS LEAGUE

The Four Nations Chess League - the British National Chess League – resumed its activities on Saturday and Sunday at Daventry in Northamptonshire.  Cheddleton, who were in second place in the B Section of the Second Division, desperately needed to win on the Saturday against third placed Celtic Tigers in order to qualify for the promotion phase of the competition. 

The Tigers, who were originally an Irish based side but who now have several London players at their disposal, notified their opponents before the match that they would be a player short.  This meant that Cheddleton won the game and the Tigers also lost an extra point for defaulting a board.  Cheddleton’s task was made easier when the Tigers’ board 2 player was stranded on Manchester Railway station and also defaulted a board.  This meant another win plus a whole point deducted from the Tigers’ score for a non-notified default.  This odd turn of events

made the Cheddleton task considerably easier and early wins by David Eggleston and Paul Wallace ensured victory.  Draws by Danny Gormally and Robert Bellin completed the scoring.  This meant that Cheddleton had won by 5-3 across the boards but that the match result actually finished as 5-1½ when the 1½ points had been deducted from the Tigers.

Scores:-

Cheddleton 5 1½ Celtic Tigers 1

Daniel W Gormally ½ ½  Ryszard Maciol, Keith C Arkell 1 0 Jan Mueller (by default), David J Eggleston 1 0 Peter D Kemp, Robert Bellin ½ ½ Carsten Pedersen, Paul A. Wallace 1 0 Mark Josse, Patrick J. Bennett 0 1 Angus J French, Malcolm J Armstrong 0 1 Mark Thomas, Craig M. Whitfield 1 default

This result together with a somewhat surprising defeat for Warwickshire, left Cheddleton finishing the Division 2B section in first place. 

Three of the matches from the first phase were carried forward to the Promotion phase of the competition which started on Sunday with Cheddleton playing Kings’ Head – one of the major London clubs.

Robert Bellin and Paul Wallace settled for early draws when the positions on most boards looked fairly comfortable for the local side and then there was a very satisfying turn of events as the two Cheddleton grandmasters, Danny Gormally and Keith Arkell both won.  It was not long before fifteen-year-old Craig Whitfield joined them.  After that, the result was something of a formality and draws agreed by David Eggleston and Pat Bennett settled the final score in Cheddleton’s favour.  This means that with four matches played, Cheddleton are currently top of the promotion section of Division Two but with the teams so closely bunched, it looks as though all the three remaining matches in May need to be won to make sure of the ultimate goal of promotion to the Premier Section.

King’s Head 3 5 Cheddleton

Richard J McMichael 0 1 Keith C Arkell, Andrew J Whiteley 0 1 Daniel W Gormally, Feliks J Kwiatkowski ½ ½ David J Eggleston, Jochen Wittmann ½ ½ Robert Bellin, Rik H Thomas ½ ½ Paul A. Wallace, Colin Mackenzie ½ ½ Patrick J. Bennett, Julian T Ward 1 0 Simon R Edwards,

Ravi Haria 0 1 Craig M. Whitfield

NEWCASTLE MINI CHESS CONGRESS

Whilst the club team was fighting it out in the National League last weekend, those who were at home were not idle and eight members went over to Newcastle Bridge Club all day on Saturday and Sunday to take part in Newcastle’ s annual “Mini” Congress.  In the top section for players graded 160 and less there were three Cheddleton competitors out of twelve, these being Matthew Wyza, Roger Walker and Nick McLean.

After four rounds, on Sunday afternoon, there were four joint leaders, each with three points, leaving Matt Wyza of Cheddleton to play Jon Blackburn of Holmes Chapel and Stephane Pedder of Stafford to play Steve Hill of Meir in the last round.  In the event, both Matt and Stephane won to share the first prize, another addition to Wyza’s growing list of triumphs this season.

In the middle competition for players graded less than 130, the only Cheddleton participant out of fourteen was Karol Grzybowski who scored a creditable three points to finish in fifth place behind the winner, Karl Walklate of Fenton.

In the lower section for players graded less than 100, four junior members of the club took part and the clear winner with a score of four and a half was 12-year-old Alex Cartlidge.  12-year-old Liam Dimmick and eleven-year-old Jack Healings both won prizes in finishing equal third whilst 11-year-old Jacob Cartlidge followed along close behind.

This was a productive weekend for the members of the club in a very enjoyable competition.

21 March 2010

NORTH STAFFS AND DISTRICT LEAGUE

Cheddleton C pushed ahead of the D team once more at the top of the Third Division on Monday evening at Holmes Chapel.  In a convincing win, Roger Edwards and David Hallen gave the visitors an early lead and then Roger Walker and John Yee played more leisurely games before finally sewing up the other two boards.

Scores:-

Holmes Chapel D 0 4 Cheddleton C

George J Scattergood 0 1 John Y Yee, Benjamin Scattergood 0 1 Roger J Edwards, David P Price 0 1 Roger W Walker, Ellen Scattergood 0 1 David A Hallen

The club team visited Newcastle on Wednesday in the Semi Final of the North Staffordshire Cup.  With a large number of players unavailable, it was necessary to pull out all the stops and this is exactly what happened.

Chris Baxter foresaw some pitfalls in his position and agreed an early draw.  This was soon followed by a big win by Simon Edwards to put the visitors in the lead.  With the three higher boards looking relatively at ease, the other three lower boards settled on draws in even-looking positions,  leaving the other three to battle it out to the death.  Next to finish was Bill Armstrong who put Cheddleton in a healthy lead.  The top two boards, however, were very even with advantage swinging from one side to the other.  In the end, it was left to fifteen-year-old Craig Whitfield to ensure victory with a neat turn around in the ending.  This puts Cheddleton in the final for the tenth successive year.

Scores:-

Newcastle 3 5 Cheddleton

Alex Richardson 1 0 David E Buxton, Alan M Paling 0 1 Craig M Whitfield, Barry Jones 0 1 Simon R Edwards, E Diarmaid Gibson 0 1 William G Armstrong, Martyn J Harris ½ ½ John Y Yee, Geoffrey S Lee ½ ½ Philip N Birks, John R Day ½ ½ Roger J Edwards, Francis E Westfield ½ ½ Christopher Baxter

This left two matches on Friday.  The E team, which has experienced a somewhat barren season so far in Division Four, was in scintillating form at home to Meir B.  The first winner was Megan, closely followed by Karol who is looking much more like his old self recently.  David Rose was slightly down for most of his game but came back with a vengeance in an unstoppable attack that ensured a team win.  Alastair McFadden had the better of his game but was happy to settle for the draw with the match won.

Scores:-

Cheddleton E 3½ ½ Meir B

Alastair D McFadden  ½ ½ Edward D Burke, David M Rose 1 0 Raymond F Rhodes, Karol Grzybowski 1 0 Robert Perry, Megan E Moruzzi 1 0 Stuart Green

The G team travelled to bottom of the table Hassell at Newcastle and came back clear winners.  None of the four games was an easy win but the visitors were always in the driving seat.  Danny Graham was the first to finish with a neat combination on the bottom board.  He was closely followed by Joe Jackson and then there was a lull whilst the two top boards recharged their batteries before launching back into the fray.  Eventually Frank got the better of his opponent and finally, Colin won a titanic struggle on the top board to record the second clean sweep of the week.

Scores:-

Hassell 0 4 Cheddleton G

Richard I Crick 0 1 Colin Abell

John Hollins 0 1 Frank D Bruce

Oliver Hollins 0 1 Joseph H Jackson

Daniel Washington 0 1 Danny Graham

14 March 2010

NORTH STAFFS AND DISTRICT LEAGUE

This was a somewhat patchy week as far as results were concerned for the Chess Club.  So many matches have been cancelled and so many are being rearranged in a short space of time that the idea of getting them all played before the end of the season seems more important than the result at the moment.

On Monday, the C team had a fight on their hands at Fenton and only came back with one point, leaving the eventual destination of the Third Division trophy still in doubt.  Roger Walker was the only winner with David Hallen and Roger Edwards both drawing.

Scores:-

Fenton B 2 2 Cheddleton C

Jarosłav Gorski 1 0 John Y Yee, Robert Taylor ½ ½ Roger J Edwards, Mark S Whitby 0 1 Roger W Walker, Richard P Cantliff ½ ½ David A Hallen

Four white wins, two for each side, ensured that the E team gained a welcome point at Kidsgrove on Wednesday evening.  Paul Shelley and Karol Grzybowski were the winners with two impressive wins.

Scores:-

Kidsgrove B 2 2 Cheddleton E

Steven Burndred 0 1 Paul Shelley, Gareth R Burndred 1 0 David M Rose, Matthew Burndred 0 1 Karol Grzybowski, David Johnson 1 0 Megan E Moruzzi

The A team’s woeful performance in Division One this season continued on Thursday at Stafford.  Two draws by Bill Armstrong and John Yee were all that was rescued from the disaster.

Scores:-

Stafford A 4 1 Cheddleton A

Gerald Acey 1 0 Robert Shaw, Malcolm J Armstrong 1 0 Simon R Edwards, Stephane SG Pedder 1 0 Simon Gilmore, Roger VH Butters ½ ½ William G Armstrong, Ian M Climie ½ ½ John Y Yee 

The best result of the week was an outstanding victory by the D team on Friday night which kept their hopes of the Third Division title alive.  Matt Wyza continued his good run and both Keith Brownlee and Peter Tomczak ran into good form.  Vlade neatly completed the evening’s entertainment with a good draw on the top board.

Scores:-

Cheddleton D 3½ ½ Holmes Chapel D

Vlade V Luzajic ½ ½ George J Scattergood, Matthew P Wyza 1 0 Benjamin Scattergood, Keith Brownlee 1 0 Ellen Scattergood, Peter P Tomczak 1 0 Joseph L Morris

TEN MINUTE TOURNAMENT

With a large number of people in the club last Friday, it was decided to run a four-round ten-minute chess tournament.  Fourteen players took part and there were some fine performances in a form of the game that can be a great leveller with each player being allowed a strict ten minutes each per game. 

Unsurprisingly, the clear winner with four out of four was Dave Buxton.  More surprisingly perhaps was that 12-year-old Liam Dimmick and 13-year-old Will Foster finished in joint second place.  In equal fourth place were 11-year-old Emma Smith together with Bill Armstrong, Frank Bruce and Colin Abell.

The whole event was a great success.

7 March 2010

NORTH STAFFS AND DISTRICT LEAGUE

The members of the Cheddleton B team did their cause in Division Two of the North Staffs Chess League a lot of good this week with a narrow win at second placed Meir A on Monday followed by a convincing performance at home to Holmes Chapel C on Friday.

On Monday, Matt Wyza played a waiting game against the in-form Clive Ferry and eventually spotted his chance to launch a winning attack after being under the cosh for much of the game.  Nick McLean and Phil Birks both reached tied-up positions in their games and agreed draws, which left Dave Buxton to slug it out on the top board to gain both points.  At last, he saw the opportunity and took it to win the match.

Scores:-

Meir A 2 3 Cheddleton B

Mark Handley 0 1 David E Buxton, Steven R Hill ½ ½ Philip N Birks, Clive N Ferry 0 1 Matthew P Wyza, Thomas W Healey ½ ½ Nicholas McLean, Edward D Burke 1 0 Paul Shelley

Friday night saw Holmes Chapel C at Norbury House to play a rearranged fixture.  Chris Baxter made another of his rare appearances and firmly held his opponent to a draw, but the points soon began to look safe as the top three local players all began to make inroads into the visitors’ positions and were not long in converting these into wins.  This result takes the B team up to third place in the table and still several games in hand of the two teams above them.

Scores:-

Cheddleton B 3½ 1½ Holmes Chapel C

David E. Buxton 1 0 John Hicks, Matthew P Wyza 1 0 George J Scattergood, Philip N Birks 1 0 Sandra G Blackburn, Christopher Baxter ½ ½ Richard H Blackwell, Megan E Moruzzi 0 1 Benjamin Scattergood

28 February 2010

NATIONAL CHESS LEAGUE

Saturday of last week saw a return to the fray in the National Chess League – the 4NCL – for Cheddleton Chess Club.  The opponents were Poisoned Pawns 2 – a team based in Cambridge, who were sitting in third position in the Division 2B.  The match was a long drawn-out tight struggle with the local players gradually gaining the upper hand.  Women’s Grand Master, Sheila Jackson, was again in the team and again made her presence felt with a valuable draw on board 7.  Slowly but surely the team began to to chalk up the victories with Pat Bennett gaining his fifth successive win and Jon Hawkins and David Eggleston soon following him.  Paul Wallace and Grand Master Keith Arkell then added another point each to the total and Robert Bellin and Danny Gormally completed the match with two draws.  A difficult contest had finished with a good score to help the team in their quest for honours in the Second Division of the League this season.

Scores:-

Cheddleton 6½ 1½ Poisoned Pawns 2

Keith C Arkell 1 0 Daniel B Rosen, Daniel W Gormally ½ ½ Ola Winfridsson, David J Eggleston 1 0 Paul R Kemp, Jonathan Hawkins 1 0 Norman A Hutchinson, Robert Bellin ½ ½ Stefan Doci, Paul A. Wallace 1 0 Robert T McCorry, Sheila Jackson ½ ½ Paul McMahon, Patrick J. Bennett 1 0 David J Redman  

There was more than one nasty shock awaiting the team on the following day, however.  To begin with, three of the players who were travelling to the match woke up to find a heavy fall of snow overnight had made the journey hazardous.  Once they had all dug themselves out and safely reached the venue at Hinckley in Leicestershire, they had to negotiate their way round a tricky Warwickshire team, which had players who outgraded the local team on the lower boards.  This meant that a tough fight was always going to be on the cards.  By the half way stage of the match at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, things were looking bad for Cheddleton, with only Pat Bennett having avoided defeat out of the four players who had finished.  With a lost match looking all but inevitable, the remaining four players dug in to salvage as much as they could, knowing that the number of boards won also counts to a team’s advantage at the end of the season.  In the event, Jon Hawkins and Robert Bellin both gained draws and the two grandmasters, Keith Arkell and Danny Gormally both triumphed to make the margin of defeat as small as possible.

Scores:-

Warwickshire Select 1 4½ 3½ Cheddleton

Donald J Mason 0 1 Daniel W Gormally, Nicholas Thomas 0 1 Keith C Arkell, John T Pitcher 1 0 David J Eggleston      , Christopher CW Shepherd ½ ½ Jonathan W Hawkins, Anthony M Hynes ½ ½ Robert Bellin            , Brandon GI Clarke 1 0 Paul A. Wallace, Andrew JD Baruch ½ ½ Patrick J. Bennett, Paul Webster 1 0 Craig M. Whitfield                         

NORTH STAFFS AND DISTRICT LEAGUE

The only match played in the local League this week was at Stafford on Wednesday where a depleted club side met turned out to be an almost as depleted Stafford side in the Quarter Finals of the Cup and came away victorious.  Chris Baxter, who was somewhat lacking in match practice, gained an advantage in his game and so settled for a draw when he saw a row of other good positions beside him.  Rob Shaw kept up his good record against Gerald Acey on the top board and Craig Whitfield and Bill Armstrong both won handsomely.  Matt Wyza used all his ingenuity to gain a superior position on his board and then converted it into a win in masterly fashion.  With the match now won, Phil Birks settled for a draw on his board and the team progressed into the Semi Finals against Newcastle.

Scores:-

Stafford 3 5 Cheddleton

Gerald Acey 0 1 Robert Shaw, Malcolm J Armstrong 1 0 David E Buxton, Stephane SG Pedder 0 1 Craig M Whitfield, Roger VH Butters ½ ½ Philip N Birks, Railton Hyde 0 1 William G Armstrong, Ian M Climie 1 0 Carl Gartside, Andrew T Leadbetter 0 1 Matthew P Wyza, Kenneth J McNulty ½ ½ Christopher Baxter

21 February 2010

NORTH STAFFS AND DISTRICT LEAGUE

In spite of the fact that there were very few matches this week, it was good to see that the three matches played all resulted in wins for Cheddleton teams.

On Monday, the struggling G team visited runaway undefeated Division Five leaders Fenton D and came back victorious.  Frank Bruce played a slow and deliberate game on board 2 and eventually came out the winner.  10-year old George Hamilton gave everything he had to win on the bottom board and a masterly display by Colin Abell on the top board clinched it all.

Scores:-

Fenton D 1 3 Cheddleton G

Stephen J Emmerton 0 1 Colin Abell, Joszef Orsolics 0 1 Frank D Bruce, Derek Whitehurst 1 0 Danny Graham, John White 0 1 George E Hamilton

On Friday night, there were more fears of intervention by the weather and one of the three scheduled matches was not played.  However, the B team, looking to move closer to the top of Division Two, had a fine victory over Holmes Chapel B.  Dave Buxton was first to finish to put the home side one up.  With most of the boards looking fairly positive, Roger Edwards and Nick McLean settled on draws on their boards and then Phil Birks converted his advantage to another win.  Then, Colin Abell was back in action for his second win of the week in a long drawn-out game of attrition on the bottom board.

Scores:-

Cheddleton B 4 1 Holmes Chapel B

David E Buxton 1 0 Jon EW Blackburn, Roger J Edwards ½ ½ Malcolm Roberts, Philip N Birks 1 0 Sandra G Blackburn, Nicholas McLean ½ ½ Richard H Blackwell, Colin Abell 1 0 Paul G Clifford

Hassell were the F team’s visitors in Division Five, and heartened by the loss sustained by Fenton D earlier in the week, the F team set about their opponents with a will, knowing that their slim chances of overhauling Fenton had been improved a little.  Joe Jackson and Will Foster made early inroads into the opposition and made sure that the match could not be lost.  Then, however, the top two boards had long struggles to keep hopes of victory alive.  In the end, a display of steely resolve by 12-year old Liam Dimmick earned the half point that was needed to keep the F team in touch with the top of the table.

Scores:-

Cheddleton F 2½ 1½ Hassell

Neil D Dimmick 0 1 Conrad Green, Liam J Dimmick ½ ½ Joshua Hollins, Joseph H Jackson 1 0 Edward J Davies, William CE Foster 1 0 Amil Mohammed

14 February 2010

NORTH STAFFS AND DISTRICT LEAGUE

After yet another week in which all matches were cancelled, two Cheddleton teams were back in action again this week.

Monday evening saw the G team travelling to Meir C for a Fifth Division match.  The games played did little to ease worries about the team’s position in the table as they stumbled to another defeat with only a good win by Colin Abell and a tough draw from Frank Bruce helping dispel the gloom.

Scores:-

Meir C 2½ 1½ Cheddleton G

Edward D Burke 0 1 Colin Abell, Anthony D Cooling ½ ½ Frank D Bruce, Michael J Judd 1 0 Danny Graham, Stuart Green 1 0 George E Hamilton.

There was some relief on Wednesday evening when the C team leapfrogged over the D team to take top spot in the Third Division with a convincing win at Kidsgrove A.  Roger Edwards, Roger Walker and David Hallen were unstoppable and only a successful rearguard action by Kidsgrove veteran, Derek Northage, prevented the whitewash.

Scores:- 

Kidsgrove A 1 3 Cheddleton C

Derek H Northage 1 0 John Y Yee, Julian P Cook 0 1 Roger J Edwards, Gareth R Burndred 0 1 Roger W Walker, Matthew Burndred 0 1 David A Hallen.

31 January 2010

NORTH STAFFS AND DISTRICT LEAGUE

Cheddleton B resumed its campaign in Division Two of the North Staffs League on Friday evening with a comfortable win over Fenton A.  Alex Cartlidge, making his debut at this level, scored a memorable victory to put the home team in the lead.  Bill Armstrong soon improved on this and then there was a long wait before the match was clinched by two late but eventually convincing wins by Simon Edwards and Phil Birks.

Scores:-

Cheddleton B 4 1 Fenton A

Simon R Edwards 1 0 Jarosłav Gorski, William G Armstrong 1 0 Robert Taylor, Philip N Birks 1 0 Mark S Whitby, Ebrahim H Arshad 0 1 Karl Walklate, Alexander J Cartlidge 1 0 Peter R Tideswell

Monday evening saw the E team tumble to another defeat in Division Four.  Visiting a particularly strong Meir B team,  Megan Moruzzi scored a good win on the bottom board and David Hallen played a tight game on board 3 which finished all square but after much effort, nothing else was squeezed out of the top two boards.

Scores:-

Meir B 2½ 1½ Cheddleton E

Steven R Hill 1 0 Paul Shelley, Edward D Burke 1 0 David M Rose, Raymond F Rhodes ½ ½ David A Hallen, David Hackney 0 1 Megan E Moruzzi

The top of the table struggle in Division Three on Friday evening between the C and D teams was badly hit by player unavailability and so was played over three boards.  As was to be expected, there was little between any of the six players on display and in the end, the whole match hung on the top board where John Yee finally scored the win.

Scores:-

Cheddleton C 2 1 Cheddleton D

John Y Yee 1 0 Matthew P Wyza, Roger J Edwards ½ ½ Nicholas McLean, David A Hallen ½ ½ Keith Brownlee

The other match on Friday was another internal struggle in Division Five between the F and G teams.  The F team regained second spot in the Division with wins for Liam Dimmick and Will Foster.

Scores:-

Cheddleton G 1 3 Cheddleton F

Colin Abell ½ ½ Neil D Dimmick, Frank D Bruce 0 1 Liam J Dimmick, Joseph H Jackson ½ ½ Danny Graham, George E Hamilton 0 1 William CE Foster

24 January 2010

NATIONAL CHESS LEAGUE

The Cheddleton team in the National Chess League – the 4NCL – clicked  into gear last weekend at Hinckley as they moved into top place in the Division 2B Section with a place in the British Chess Premiership well and truly in their sites.

On Saturday Cheddleton played FCA Solutions who are based at Milton Keynes.
Cheddleton took an early lead when David Eggleston won before the two-hour mark had come up.  At this stage, everyone looked comfortable and most of the team had begun to make slight inroads into the opponents’ position.  However, the games continued to be hard fought and after four hours there was no change to the score.  This was in contrast to most of the matches in the Division, which were all beginning to get towards a conclusion.  When results did begin to come through soon after that time, they arrived thick and fast and it was not long before the local team were 6-0 to the good.  At that point, Paul Wallace, whose game was very even, settled for a draw whilst Robert Bellin continued to pursue his advantage for another hour before making the final score 7½ ½.

Scores:-

Cheddleton  7½-½  FCA Solutions 1

Daniel W Gormally 1 0 Charles E Tippleston, Keith C Arkell 1 0 Richard J Almond, David J Eggleston 1 0 Graham M Smith, Robert Bellin 1 0 Alan M Brown, Jonathan W Hawkins 1 0 Graham E Borrowdale, Paul A. Wallace ½ ½  Paul F Habershon, Patrick J. Bennett 1 0 Paul SN Kendall, Craig M. Whitfield 1 0 Helen I Evans            

Sunday saw a match with Guildford 3, which is always a major event.  Guildford is the biggest club in England and has two teams in the top Division of the League.  Although the third team have had a great deal of success, no club is allowed to have three teams in the top section and so they have never been promoted.  

Cheddleton had an early advantage when Guildford failed to provide a junior player and lost the bottom board by default.  It was not long before Cheddleton’s two Grand Masters, Danny Gormally and Keith Arkell had got off to a good start as they developed dominant positions on the board and the match proceeded at a quicker pace than the day before.  Again the positions began to show advantage to the local team and events moved on apace with only a major hiccup from David Eggleston standing in the way of a complete whitewash.

Scores:-

Guildford ADC 3 1-7 Cheddleton

Julian M Shepley 0 1 Daniel W Gormally, Colin Eckloff 0 1 Keith C Arkell, Christophe Roset 1 0 David J Eggleston, Anthony RJ Higgs 0 1 Robert Bellin, Richard BE Bryant 0 1 Jonathan W Hawkins, Matthew H Shaw 0 1 Paul A. Wallace, Daniel C Gibbs 0 1 Patrick J. Bennett, default 0 1 Craig M. Whitfield                 

NORTH STAFFS AND DISTRICT LEAGUE

Chess players are now beginning to emerge from the forced mid-season break and three matches were played on Friday evening.  Two of these were in the Third Division of the North Staffs and District League where the C team and the D team are slugging it out for top place.

The C team entertained Alsager B who are surprisingly languishing at the bottom in spite of having a very useful array of players at their disposal.  The match was inevitably close and the impasse was finally broken when team captain David Hallen took his game into waters that his opponent found uncharted and put the home side in the lead.  John Yee attempted every possible combination he could devise but was unable to break down Alan Thomason’s defence leaving the top board as a draw and Rogers Edwards and Walker to battle away for the points which with their traditional dependability they duly achieved.

Scores:-

Cheddleton C 3½-½ Alsager B

John Y Yee ½ ½ Alan E Thomason, Roger J Edwards 1 0 Neville S Jones, Roger W Walker 1 0 Oliver J Horrocks, David A Hallen 1 0 Timothy Sullivan

The D team also found themselves involved in a worthwhile struggle as they got to grips with Fenton B on Friday.  Gradually, the top board began to show a slight advantage to Fenton’s Jaroslav Gorski and the third board to Cheddleton’s Colin Abell.  In the end, these were the only two decisive results with Matt Wyza and Pete Tomczak as well as the match itself, settling for a draw.

Scores:-

Cheddleton D 2-2 Fenton B

Vlade V Luzajic 0 1 Jaroslav Gorski, Matthew P Wyza ½ ½ John A Amison, Colin Abell 1 0 Karl Walklate, Peter P Tomczak ½ ½ Geoffrey Yates

The F and H teams are also fighting it out near the top of Division Five and this struggle was put to the test on Friday as they played their return match in the League.  Oddly, the players with the black pieces won on boards 2, 3 and 4, with a draw on the top board giving the points to the H team.

Scores:-

Cheddleton H 2½-1½ Cheddleton F

Nicholas McLean ½ ½ Neil D Dimmick, Alexander J Cartlidge 1 0 Liam J Dimmick, Jack Healings 0 1 Joseph H Jackson, Jacob D Cartlidge 1 0 William CE Foster

17 January 2010

NORTH STAFFS AND DISTRICT LEAGUE

The Chess League programme resumed at the end of last week but has been badly hit by the weather.  In all, two C team matches in Division Three, a D team match also in Division Three, an E team match in Division Four and an F team match in Division Five were all postponed.

The H team travelled to Newcastle last Friday and won a difficult match against Hassell in the Fifth Division.

Nick McLean won a good game against leading junior player, Conrad Green whilst Alex Cartlidge defeated an old rival in Josh Hollins.  Jack Healings did enough to share the spoils with Edward Davies to ensure that both points were gained by the visitors.

Scores:-

Hassell 1½ 2½ Cheddleton H

Conrad Green 0 1 Nicholas McLean, Joshua Hollins 0 1 Alexander J Cartlidge, Edward J Davies ½ ½ Jack Healings, Matthew Kelly 1 0 Jacob D Cartlidge

The D team travelled to Alsager on Thursday for a Third Division match and also returned with both points after a hard-fought match with a very strong home side.  After a long struggle, team captain Matt Wyza managed to edge a victory from his opponent and the others readily agreed to share the spoils in the other three games.

Scores:-

Alsager B 1½ 2½  Cheddleton D

T Brian Birchall ½ ½ Vlade V Luzajic, Neville Jones 0 1 Matthew P Wyza, Oliver J Horrocks ½ ½ Christopher Baxter, Timothy Sullivan ½ ½ Peter P Tomczak

Friday brought  an internal Fifth Division match between the G and H teams and a First Division match between the A team and Holmes Chapel A.

The A team had five of their strongest six players unavailable but still put up a stern resistance to the League leaders.  Matt Wyza deputising on the bottom board stopped a run of nine successive victories by Mike Hancock but didn’t have quite enough to win.  Bill Armstrong and John Yee both playing their first A team match of the season also did well to hold their opponents.  Dave Buxton had the better of a game with Welsh International, Jonathan Blackburn but was outwitted near the end of a classic tussle.

Scores:-

Cheddleton A 1½ 3½ Holmes Chapel A

David E Buxton 0 1 Jonathan LB Blackburn, William G Armstrong ½ ½ John M Turner, Philip N Birks 0 1 Pat J Bennett, John Y Yee ½ ½ Ian W Bates, Matthew P Wyza ½ ½ Mike L Hancock

The Fifth Division encounter between bottom-of-the-table G team and high-flying H team ended in both points going to the G team.  As would be expected, each game was extremely close and competitive but in the end, with the “home” team leading 2-1, Nick McLean knowing that he needed to win in order to rescue a point, turned down the offer of a draw to go for a doubtful win.  The doubtful win began to look more remote after every move and Colin Abell finally gained the points.

Scores:-

Cheddleton G 3 1 Cheddleton H

Colin Abell 1 0 Nicholas McLean, Frank D Bruce 1 0 Jacob D Cartlidge, Joseph H Jackson 0 1 Alex J Cartlidge, George E Hamilton 1 0 Jack Healings

Leek Chess Congress played on the 11th,12th, 13th September 2009.

The Main tournament – sponsored by Alton Towers.
1st equal Robert Shaw (Cheddleton and High Peak) and Gavyn Cooper (Newport)
3rd  equal David Buxton (Cheddleton) and Mark Ruston (Beckenham, Kent)               
Slow Starters’ prize David Cork (Coulsdon, Surrey)
There were 27 players in this event, of which 8 were from the home club.

The Intermediate tournament – sponsored by AH Brooks and Co.
1st equal Vlade Luzajic (Cheddleton), Chris Lewis (Newport) and Steve Jones (Warrington)
Slow Starters’ prize Kevin Engelbrecht (Wimbledon) and Sandra Blackburn (Holmes Chapel)
There were 31 players in the event of which 4 were from the home club.

The Minor tournament – sponsored by Moorlands Housing.
1st Dean Madden (Spondon)
2nd equal David Hallen (Cheddleton), Patrick Coleman (Lytham), Keith Hodgson (Bramhall), Ellen Scattergood (Holmes Chapel), Sellick Davies (Newport) and Karl Walklate (Fenton)
There were 30 players in the event of which 8 were from the home club.

The Landon Memorial Trophy for the highest placed North Staffordshire player went to Rob Shaw and the team trophy went to Newport.
Eighty eight players took part.
 

The Annual General Meeting of the Cheddleton and Leek Chess Club will take place at Norbury House at 7 p.m. on Friday 25th September.  Afterwards the annual Lightning Chess Tournament will take place.